U.S. patent number 6,965,679 [Application Number 10/240,345] was granted by the patent office on 2005-11-15 for equalizable electro-acoustic device used in commercial panels and method for converting said panels.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Electronica Integral de Sonido, S.A., Alejandro Jose Pedro Lopez Bosio. Invention is credited to Alejandro Jose Pedro Lopez Bosio, Hernan Humberto Rojas Castillo.
United States Patent |
6,965,679 |
Lopez Bosio , et
al. |
November 15, 2005 |
Equalizable electro-acoustic device used in commercial panels and
method for converting said panels
Abstract
Electro-acoustic device which when installed in continuous
ceiling, partition or wall panels available in the market made of
mineral fibre, plasterboard, multi-laminated wood, etc. converts
them into flat, invisible radiators of high-fidelity sound by its
special characteristic of being equalizable for each type of panel
at the time of manufacture and assembly.
Inventors: |
Lopez Bosio; Alejandro Jose
Pedro (Saragossa, ES), Rojas Castillo; Hernan
Humberto (Saragossa, ES) |
Assignee: |
Lopez Bosio; Alejandro Jose
Pedro (Saragossa, ES)
Electronica Integral de Sonido, S.A. (Saragossa,
ES)
|
Family
ID: |
8244281 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/240,345 |
Filed: |
October 1, 2002 |
PCT
Filed: |
October 17, 2000 |
PCT No.: |
PCT/ES00/00399 |
371(c)(1),(2),(4) Date: |
October 01, 2002 |
PCT
Pub. No.: |
WO02/34007 |
PCT
Pub. Date: |
April 25, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
381/152;
381/431 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04R
1/028 (20130101); H04R 7/04 (20130101); H04R
9/06 (20130101); H04R 2201/021 (20130101); H04R
2440/01 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04R
7/04 (20060101); H04R 9/00 (20060101); H04R
9/06 (20060101); H04R 7/00 (20060101); H04R
1/02 (20060101); H04R 025/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;381/152,396,403,420,337,431,423,426-428 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Nuntz; Curtis
Assistant Examiner: Dabney; Phylesha
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Collard & Roe, P.C.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electro-acoustic device for installation on a continuous
ceiling, partition or wall panel, comprising: (a) a chassis
comprising a plurality of support bases; (b) a magnetic system
disposed within said chassis comprising a moving coil; and (c) a
coupler attached via an adhesive to said moving coil; wherein said
chassis is adapted to adhere via an adhesive through said support
bases to a rear face of the panel and to allow the resulting sound
emitted by the panel to equalize, so that its frequency range
between 40 and 18,000 Hz is within .+-.3 dB, by manipulating its
dimensional and mechanical parameters and the nature of the
materials of the device; and wherein said coupler is made from a
material having properties similar to those of Kevlar.RTM. or
titanium, comprises a hollow truncated cone having a flange on an
end of said cone adapted to adhere to the rear face of the panel
via an adhesive, transmits at great speed all the vibrations of the
moving coil to the panel, and allows obtaining a linear response
regardless of the nature of the panel, for which the material or
geometric shape are changed and adapted to obtain said linear
response.
2. The electro-acoustic device according to claim 1, wherein the
magnetic system includes centering membranes that are attached to a
support at a centering membrane base, and with the moving coil
centered in the magnetic system by means of the centering membranes
it transmits the vibrations to the panel by the coupler.
3. An electro-acoustic device for installation on a continuous
ceiling, partition or wall panel, comprising (a) a chassis
comprising a plurality of support bases; (b) a magnetic system
disposed within said chassis comprising a moving coil; (c) a
coupler attached via an adhesive to said moving coil; and (d) a
blanket of medium-density, self-adhesive foam disposed on said
chassis; wherein said chassis is adapted to adhere through said
support bases and said blanket to a rear face of the panel to
eliminate audible resonance inherent in the panel and to allow the
resulting sound emitted by the panel to equalize, so that its
frequency range between 40 and 18,000 Hz is within .+-.3 dB, by
manipulating its dimensional and mechanical parameters and the
nature of the materials of the device; and wherein said coupler is
made of soft plastic material, comprises a hollow cylinder having a
flange on an end of said cylinder adapted to adhere to the rear
face of the panel via an adhesive, and transmits at great speed all
the vibrations of the moving coil to the panel and allows obtaining
a linear response regardless of the nature of the panel, for which
the material or geometric shape are changed and adapted to obtain
said linear response.
4. The electro-acoustic device according to claim 3, wherein if the
rear face of the panel is irregular, the medium-density foam that
coats the entire surface of said rear face of the panel is provided
with slits that allow a perfect adherence of said blanket to the
rear face of the panel.
5. An electro-acoustic device for installation on a continuous
ceiling, partition or wall, comprising: (a) a chassis comprising a
plurality of support bases; (b) a magnetic system disposed within
said chassis comprising a moving coil; and (c) a coupler attached
via an adhesive to said moving coil; wherein said chassis is
adapted to adhere through said support bases to a rear face of the
panel and to allow the resulting sound emitted by the panel to
equalize, so that its frequency range between 40 and 18,000 Hz is
within .+-.3 dB, by manipulating its dimensional and mechanical
parameters and the nature of the materials of the device; and
wherein said coupler is made of a material having properties
similar to those of cardboard, comprises a hollow truncated cone
having concave walls and a flange on an end of said truncated cone
adapted to adhere to the rear face of the panel via an adhesive,
and transmits at great speed all the vibrations of the moving coil
to the panel and allows obtaining a linear response regardless of
the nature of the panel for which the material or geometric shape
are changed and adapted to obtain said linear response.
6. An electro-acoustic device for installation on a continuous
ceiling, partition or wall panel, comprising: (a) a chassis
comprising a plurality of support bases; (b) a magnetic system
disposed within said chassis comprising a moving coil; (c) a
coupler attached via an adhesive to said moving coil; and (d) a
support attached to a plurality of centering membranes at a
centering membrane base comprising a plurality of adjustment screws
for adjustment of the support in relation to the chassis to make
possible a fine-centering of the moving coil in an air gap; wherein
said chassis is adapted to adhere through said support bases to a
rear face of the panel and to allow the resulting sound emitted by
the panel to equalize so that its frequency range between 40 and
18,000 Hz is within .+-.3 dB, by manipulating its dimensional and
mechanical parameters and the nature of the materials of the
device; and wherein when centered in the magnetic system via the
centering membranes, the moving coil transmits the vibrations to
the panel by the coupler.
7. The electro-acoustic device according to claim 6, wherein the
coupler allows obtaining a linear response regardless of the nature
of the panel, for which the material or geometric shape are changed
and adapted to obtain said linear response, using an adhesive to
attach the panel to the coupler and the coupler in turn to the
moving coil to thereby transmit at great speed all the vibrations
of the moving coil to the panel.
8. The electro-acoustic device according to claim 7, wherein when
the panel is made of multi-laminated wood the coupler is in the
form of a hollow cylinder with a flange on its end that is adhered
to the rear face of the panel by means of an adhesive, with the
coupler made of hard plastic.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Applicants claim priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.365 of
PCT/ES00/00399 filed Oct. 17, 2000. The international application
under PCT article 21 (2) was not published in English.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention relates to an equalizable
electro-acoustic device that is applied to commercial continuous
ceiling, partition or wall panels, converting these to flat and
invisible radiators of high-fidelity sound, that is, it relates to
electro-acoustic transducers applied to environmental sound.
Its field of use is widespread, including public or private places
such as shopping malls, airports, hospitals, supermarkets,
churches, offices and homes, etc.
That is, by the present device it is intended that the commercial
panels used in construction become high-fidelity diffusion devices,
with the characteristic of being invisible.
Thus, the present invention lies in the field of sound diffusion,
as well as that of continuous ceiling, partition or wall panels
available in the market.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Loudspeakers with a moving cone and coil are very old and have
evolved little since their invention. To this date, the scheme is
maintained of a cone of cardboard or paper that is driven by a coil
in an intense magnetic field, which when excited by an alternating
current makes the cone vibrate to thereby reproduce the sound.
As far as the authors of the present invention are aware, there is
available in the market a flat loudspeaker of the American company
Sound Advance that represents an evolution of the aforementioned
loudspeakers. Sound Advance substituted the traditional cardboard
or paper cone by a special panel with one flat face made of
expanded polystyrene and which, by the special design of its rear
face, allows the panel to reproduce the range of audio frequencies
in an approximately linear fashion.
In this way, the flat speaker of Sound Advance is none other than a
common magnetic system impelling a special panel whose acoustic
characteristics are achieved by its particular design and
construction. The achievement of Sound Advance was the design,
formulation of the material and the construction of the special
panel that confers its acoustic properties and simultaneously its
flatness.
The present applicant has a patent application in Chile with
application number 2598-99 in which is described an
electromechanical and electromagnetic device that allows to
transform an open roof panel or sandwich type panel of plaster and
cardboard, commercialised under the name Pladur.RTM. into a
high-fidelity electro-acoustic transducer.
In the device object of this patent the subtlest parameters have
been handled, such as the shape and dimensions of the contact
surfaces with the panel, as well as the nature of the adhesives
used to attach it to said panel, the dimensions, shape and type of
the materials of the component parts, particularly of the coupler,
in order to provide an infinitely equalizable electro-acoustic
device that allows obtaining a linear response (40-18,000 Hz.+-.3
dB) from a common market-available continuous ceiling, partition or
wall panel, made of materials such as mineral fibre, plasterboard,
multi-laminated wood, etc. when suitably installed therein, thereby
converting it into a high-fidelity flat radiator with wide
dispersion and invisible in its place of installation.
DECRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The object of this invention is an electro-acoustic transducer
device which when installed in various types of commercial panels
such as continuous ceiling, partition or wall panels of mineral
fibre, plasterboard or multi-laminated wood up to 8 mm thick, etc.,
turns them into flat radiators of high-fidelity sound with a
response of 40 to 18,000 Hz+3 dB and an efficiency above 86 dBWm.
It consists of a chassis with bases that are adhered by an elastic
adhesive to the panel, through which the sound is to be diffused.
By means of a support the chassis at its center supports the
magnetic system, which is similar to that of a medium power
loudspeaker with the corresponding moving coil and centering
membrane. The moving coil is near the rear face of the panel and is
joined to it by a coupler that is glued with a stiff adhesive to
both the moving coil and the panel.
By changing the size of the chassis (changing the distance between
the supporting bases) the low-frequency response of the panel is
changed both qualitatively and quantitatively.
By simultaneously varying the shape and nature of the coupler
material the medium and high frequency response of the panel is
changed both qualitatively and quantitatively.
According to the above, the device is equalizable at the time of
manufacture and assembly, thus allowing to obtain a high-fidelity
sound from available commercial continuous ceiling, partition or
wall panels made of almost any type of material.
As the device is installed on the rear face of the panel, leaving
its visible face unchanged, an invisible system is obtained that
emits high-fidelity sound.
For panels with an audible resonance (such as plaster or gypsum)
the device is coupled to a blanket of medium-density foam, such as
self-adhesive polyurethane, that is glued to the plaster on its
rear face in order to eliminate its audible resonance. The
dimensions of this blanket are such that the rear face is
completely covered by it. If the surface of the rear face is
irregular (due to structural reinforcements) slits are provided to
allow the blanket to adhere perfectly to the rear face of the
panel.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention
will become clearer in view of the following detailed description
of a preferred embodiment of the invention, made with reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 represents a scheme of the principle of the electro-acoustic
device.
FIG. 2 represents a plan and profile elevation view of the
electro-acoustic device in one example of a preferred
embodiment.
FIG. 3 represents a plan and profile elevation view of the
electro-acoustic device in another embodiment of the invention.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
The drawings described above will be better understood in view of
the following description of the elements that comprise and make
possible the embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 1 shows the composition of the electro-acoustic device, with a
chassis (1) containing the magnets (14) and (15) that together with
the polar elements (16), (17) and (18) and the magnet core (5) are
in charge of creating an intense electromagnetic field in the air
gap (8). The magnets (14) and (15), as well as the parts (16), (17)
and (18) and the magnet core (5) form the magnetic system (24)
(FIG. 2). By means of the centering membranes (12) and (13) and the
bases of the centering membrane (19) it is possible to attach,
elastically in an axial sense of the moving coil (4) and
inelastically in a radial sense, thereby allowing to center the
coil in the air gap (8). The moving coil (4), comprised of a coil
body and a winding (7), ends at a coupler (3) that allows by means
of a stiff adhesive (10) attachment to the panel (2) that is meant
to carry out the sound diffusion driven by the device. The device
is attached through its chassis (1) to the panel (2) by the support
bases (6), for which an elastic adhesive (23) is employed (FIG. 2).
The shape of the moving coil (4) transmits the impulses to the
coupler (3) and this in turn, by means of the stiff adhesive (10)
transmits them to the panel (2), which will vibrate. The coil (7)
shall be connected to the source (sound amplifier) by flexible
leads (9).
Both the elastic adhesive (23) (FIG. 2) and the stiff adhesive (10)
are meant to be ultra-fast adhesives, so that in order to install
the device it is sufficient to clean the rear surface of the panel
(2) and then attach the device.
In order to balance the response of the electro-acoustic device
between the low-frequency notes and the high- and mid- frequency
notes, the coupler (3) is suitably sized by changing its dimensions
and the material and shape of said coupler (3), as variations in
the material and shape result in different responses to high and
low frequencies.
Union (11) of the centering membrane (12) of the base (19) of the
centering membrane is obtained by means of a stiff adhesive.
FIG. 2 shows that the electro-acoustic device is comprised of a
chassis (1) made of metal or stiff plastic that supports, by means
of the support (21) a magnetic system (24) similar to the magnet of
a medium-power loudspeaker, with its moving coil (4) and its
centering membranes (12) and (13) attached to the support (21) by
the base of the centering membrane (19).
The shape of the chassis (1) is such that it has two support bases
(6) in its ends, that are attached to the rear face of the panel
(2) by an elastic adhesive (23), which in addition to keeping
chassis (1) in place on the panel (2) allows it to vibrate.
The moving coil (4) remains centered in the magnetic system (24) by
means of the centering membranes (12) and (13) and moves in its air
gap (8)(FIG. 1) freely, transmitting its vibration to the panel (2)
by the coupler (3).
The coupler (3) is a turned or injected part, similar to a hollow
cylinder or truncated cone, with a flange on the end in contact
with the panel (2). It is made of aluminium, hard plastic or
ideally Kevlar.RTM. or titanium. Its mass must be minimum and its
hardness extreme. The panel (2) will vibrate according to the
vibration of the moving coil (4), producing the sound.
The moving coil (4) receives the alternating current (sound) from
an amplifier through flexible leads (9) that are connected by the
corresponding connectors (20).
The stiff adhesive (10) that joins the moving coil (4) to the
coupler (3) and in turn said coupler (3) to the rear face of the
panel (2) is stiff so that once hardened it will transmit very
quickly the high-frequency vibrations of the moving coil (4) to the
panel (2).
Thus the essence of the device has been described.
As the orifices for the adjusting and attachment screws (22) made
in the support (21) have a greater diameter than said screws a
fine-adjustment of the moving coil (4) in the air gap (8) is
possible (FIG. 1), by small motions of the support (21) in relation
to the chassis (1) until fully adjusting the clearness of a sound
when a tone of for example 400 Hz is applied to the device by means
of an amplifier.
It was experimentally confirmed that the device works in panels of
various materials, such as mineral fibre, plasterboard,
multi-laminated wood up to 8 mm thick, etc. It was also
experimentally confirmed that all panels can be made to reproduce a
frequency range from 40 to 18,000 Hz.+-.3 dB by manipulating the
dimensional and mechanical parameters as well as the nature of the
materials of the device as follows: low notes can be equalized by
separating or approximating the support bases (6) of the chassis
(1). Mid notes can be equalized by changing the size of the coupler
(3), as well as the contact surface (flange) of the coupler (3) to
the rear face of the panel (2). High notes can be equalized by
changing the hardness of the stiff adhesive (10) and the nature of
the material that the coupler (3) is made of.
Thus, for example, if the panel is made of a multi-laminated wood
the coupler (3) will have the form of a hollow cylinder with a
flange on the end that is coupled to the panel (2), with which it
is adhered by a stiff adhesive (10), with the coupler made of hard
plastic. If the acoustic panel is made of Armstrong-type.RTM.
mineral fibre the coupler (3) will be in the form of a hollow
truncated cone with a flange on its end, being attached to the rear
face of the panel (2) by a stiff adhesive (10), with the coupler
(3) made of a material with characteristics similar to those of
Kevlar.RTM. or titanium. For panels with an audible resonance (such
as plaster or gypsum) the coupler (3) will have the form of a
hollow cylinder with a flange on its end, attached to the rear face
of the panel (2) by a stiff adhesive (10), with the coupler (3)
made of a soft plastic material. In order to eliminate the
resonance characteristic of these materials the rear face of the
plaster or gypsum panel is coated with a medium-density,
self-adhesive foam (27). If the panel is of the plaster and
cardboard sandwich type (25) commercially known as Pladur.RTM., a
coupler is used with a hollow truncated cone (26) form with concave
walls, with a flange on the end that is attached to the rear face
of the panel (2) by a stiff adhesive (10), with the coupler (3)
made of cardboard or a similar material.
In this way a device is obtained that after being equalized in the
laboratory as described above for each type of panel can be
reproduced with the optimal parameters obtained, copies of which
can be used for industrial chain-production of sound panels of the
same type as the one used in the equalization. With this method the
constructive specifications of the device for each type of panel to
be industrialized can be determined in the laboratory.
Finally, as the device is installed in the rear face of the panel,
its visible face remains unchanged and including this device does
has no aesthetic effect on it. Thus, a flat, high fidelity
electro-acoustic device is provided that is invisible and has the
same external appearance as the other panels forming the continuous
ceiling.
The invention can be reduced to practice within its same essence by
embodiments different from that provided by way of example of the
invention, which shall also be protected by the protection sought
herein. Likewise, it may be made in any shape and size with the
most suitable materials as this is considered in the spirit of the
claims.
* * * * *